Manufacturing Business Technology - August 1, 2004

When GKN Aerospace bought Boeing's St. Louis-based metal and composites fabrication operations—and what is said to be the largest machine shop in North America—it had to quickly disconnect from the aircraft manufacturer's information systems. Only 10 months later, the new management was live on its own enterprise system, one specifically developed for use in sophisticate...

• Columnists
• Up Front
• Tired from too much productivity gain?

• Corporate Project
• A strategic approach to product innovation
• Business Performance Management
• ERP necessary but insufficient for world-class finance
• Carrier Management
• Optimization engine works to competitive advantage for truckload carrier
• Case-In-Point
• NVIDIA deployed core ERP, then took aim at its extended supply chain
• Compliance Support
• IBM builds alliances
• Software Impresarios
• Serial entrepreneurs bring varied backgrounds to growing vendors
• Trade Relations
• NAM posts weekly trade information service

• Departments
• IT by the Numbers
• IT by the numbers
• Metrics That Matter
• A key plant metric: ROA
• Politics of Productivity
• Larger profit margins of pharmaceutical industry driven by marketing, not R&D
• Solutions Spotlight
• Solutions Spotlight

• Information Technology
• Successful implementations do happen
• Case-In-Point
• Apps-support overhaul nets efficiency gains for contract manufacturer
• Electronic Commerce
• Former paper industry exchange seeks new customers
• Enterprise Servers
• Counting threads could be the new way of rating servers
• Industrial Networks
• XML gains popularity as industrial communications standard
• Network Security
• Security consultant says protecting IT networks is serious business
• Operating Systems
• Microsoft launches campaign to stave off Linux threat

• Operations
• The state of automotive make-to-order
• Case-In-Point
• Different platforms, different places: same design view
• Equipment Manufacture
• Lean front end at Crane Pumps streamlines customer-facing process
• Pharmaceutical Supply Chains
• Pfizer's scheduling solution starts small before going global
• Procurement Strategies
• Components purchasing meets risk management
• RFID Vendor Madness
• Assessing those eager to lend a hand
• Supply Chain Management
• SCOR model expands
• The Current Uptake
• G2 standard seen as vital to RFID advances

• Views From the Front
• ARC Conference
• Best-laid RFID plan may be "wait and see"
• Application Architectures
• New breed supply chain systems support today's business models
• China's Auto Industry
• Suppliers rush to meet demands, yet anticipate overcapacity
• Corporate
• Product data is not visual
• Design to Costs
• Renault takes its "no-frills" auto to global market
• ERP Markets
• PeopleSoft apps to say "da"
• ERP for the Midmarket
• "Best" investment: a million to recruit 100
• Implementations
• Up and running
• Information Technology
• PeopleSoft claims its software is cheaper to own, easier to manage
• Operations
• ARC calls for real-time knowledge workers
• Selling to China
• SMBs and exporters delve into China's highly saleable populace
• Web Services
• What every executive should know about Web services